Marijuana increasing among people over 50 in the U.S.

Willie Nelson said about marijuana “Don't tell me about health when you're talking about legalizing marijuana because it's not dangerous health-wise. I'm the canary in the mine, and I'm still healthy.” (Source: The Guardian)

Drug use among U.S.’s youth is dropping, but it’s increasing among people over 50, an american government survey released Wednesday shows.

Last year in the U.S., the rate of illicit drug use between people of 12 to 17 years old dropped to 9.5 percent, down from 11.6 percent between 2000-2010, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) latest national survey.

Meanwhile, illicit drug use among adults 50 to 64 years old has increased in the past decade.

Specifically, illicit drug use among adults 50 to 54 has more than doubled since 2002, reaching 7.2 percent last year. For people 55 to 59, such drug use has more than tripled, reaching 6.6 percent last year.

Marijuana is by far the most-used illicit drug among both children and adults in the U.S.

However, last August, the United States government took a historic step back from its long-running drug war , when Attorney General Eric Holder informed the governors of Washington and Colorado that the Department of Justice would allow the states to create a regime that would regulate and implement the ballot initiatives that legalized the use of marijuana for adults.